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Root Exudation: The Role of Secondary Metabolites, Their Localisation in Roots and Transport into the Rhizosphere

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Root Engineering

Part of the book series: Soil Biology ((SOILBIOL,volume 40))

Abstract

Root exudates contain numerous biologically active low molecular weight secondary metabolites that are produced by plants. Due to their physical and biochemical properties, they are able to interact with many diverse targets in subcellular locations to elicit various activities in microbes, plants and animals. We present specific examples of two families of bioactive secondary plant products which have been well documented as allelochemicals and discuss their production and transport in the plants which produce them and their respective roles in the rhizosphere. We focus on flavonoids which play important roles in the transport of auxin, root and shoot development, pollination, modulation of reactive oxygen species and signalling of symbiotic bacteria in the legume Rhizobium symbiosis. In addition, they possess antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and anticancer activities. Flavonoids are transported within and between plant tissues and cells by specific transport proteins or transporters and are released into the rhizosphere by roots where they are involved in numerous interactions including allelopathy. Released by root exudation or tissue degradation over time, both aglycones and glycosides of flavonoids and other bioactive secondary metabolites are found in soil solutions and the rhizosphere. We describe their activity and fate in the soil rhizosphere in selected examples involving legumes. Long-chain hydroquinones, in contrast, are lipophilic molecules that are released by passive exudation from living Sorghum spp. root hairs and are involved in allelopathic interactions and in chemical signalling causing stimulation of germination by Striga spp. They are also thought to be involved in nematicidal activity associated with Sorghum haplotypes and are antibacterial to certain soil bacteria. Hydroquinones including sorgoleone are released continuously through pores in the tips of root hairs where they bind to soil particles and organic matter. Once exuded, sorgoleone and its metabolites remain bioactive in the rhizosphere for several days after introduction to living soils. We also discuss the potential for future research to further elucidate the role of secondary metabolites and their fate in the soil rhizosphere.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Australian Research Council for funding through a Future Fellowship to UM (FT100100669) and New South Wales Office of Medical and Science Research for funding a Biofirst Life Sciences Research Fellowship to LAW.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. EH Graham Centre, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2678, Australia

    Leslie A. Weston

  2. Division of Plant Science, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia

    Ulrike Mathesius

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  1. Leslie A. Weston
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  2. Ulrike Mathesius
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Correspondence to Leslie A. Weston .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain

    Asunción Morte

  2. Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Ajit Varma

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Weston, L.A., Mathesius, U. (2014). Root Exudation: The Role of Secondary Metabolites, Their Localisation in Roots and Transport into the Rhizosphere. In: Morte, A., Varma, A. (eds) Root Engineering. Soil Biology, vol 40. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54276-3_11

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